As part of the Sterling High School Aviation Sciences Magnet program, students are given the opportunity to explore the world of aviation and a variety of careers in the aviation industry.

But senior George Smith said he was totally blindsided when his instructor asked him if he was ready for his first solo flight.

            “I had no idea I was going to fly solo that day!” Smith said. “My instructor looked up and was like ‘George, it’s a beautiful day. Do you want to fly today?’ and I was like ‘sure!”

            After a 20-minute practice flight with his instructor near Hobby Airport, Smith finally got to experience his first flight alone.

“I looked down to my right and was like well he’s gone, I’m by myself. Wow! I’m actually doing this by myself!” Smith said with a laugh.

            After his 40-minute solo flight, the first thing Smith did was call his mother.

            “I actually called my mom and was like ‘Mom! You won’t believe what happened! I flew the plane by myself!” Smith said.

            Smith said he got involved in the aviation program his sophomore year; however, his love for flying started when he was 8 years old.

            “When I went on my first flight, I knew I had to do this,” Smith said. “I knew I had to learn how to fly.”

            The great thing about the aviation program at Sterling is its availability to all students who are interested. The high costs keep many that dream about career aviation, just that a dream.

But at Sterling, it is free to those who meet the requirements – satisfactory conduct, good attendance, 75 and higher in all academic course work and an aptitude and interest in becoming a pilot, magnet coordinator Lisa Stillwell said.

“We just had our first student to do a solo flight this school year. Graduates of the program go on to be successful in the field of aviation. They are employed with companies such as Continental Airlines, Express Jet, Federal Aviation Administration, City of Houston Airport System, Marines, Navy and Air Force, Federal Express and many other companies,” Stillwell explained. “One of our recent graduates is currently in the Naval Academy.”

According to Stillwell, there is not another program of its type in the Houston area. The program combines flight, classroom and laboratory instruction. All students must have an aptitude for and interest in becoming a pilot or an interest in other aviation careers. Students learn basic flight, meteorology, navigation, airframe and powerplant technology, avionics and more.

“The program provides each student with the knowledge and experience to take the written, oral and practical exams necessary for the Federal Aviation Administration Certification,” Stillwell said. “In this program, a student can learn to fly through ground school flight training and earn up to 40 hours of actual flight time. The flight training is free training for students. The students are able to obtain their private pilot license.”

            Smith said students are fortunate to have this opportunity because of the high cost of training others have to pay.

            “Flying is expensive,” Smith said. “When I was looking for an aviation program and I found Sterling, I was like wow! When you get free flight training, that’s just great.  There are many who are disadvantaged and can’t pay $8000 for flight training.”

            Another advantage, Smith said is the ability to study aviation while in high school, allowing students to go straight into their choice of career. But he warned that before you can fly, you must go through tough training and studies.

            “There was rigorous ground instruction of at least a half an hour every day to cover the basics of becoming a private pilot,” Smith said. “There was an abundant amount of both bookwork and flight instruction with my instructor to build up knowledge and experience.”

            Even though flying a plane was always an incentive to keep going, Smith had to endure many challenges in order to remain in the program.  He decided to attend Sterling High School solely because of the availability of the program but the 30-mile distance was a problem.

“Before I had a stable way of transportation, I had to wake up early in the morning and because I was involved in extra-curricular activities, I had to stay after school until seven and catch Metro,” Smith said. “I also had to make sure I stayed focused on my schoolwork – it’s very time consuming.”

Smith’s hard work and persistence has without a doubt paid off. He will receive his pilot’s license in December. His plans for the future include attending his local community college – which is one of the top colleges in the country for official pilots to pursue a professional pilot career.

After three and a half years of aviation training, being the first student to fly solo is a big accomplishment and clear indication of his determination.

“I knew the time would eventually come but I didn’t think it would be so soon,” Smith said with a laugh. “I take it with a lot of pride. This is a big accomplishment for program, the school and me. It’s been a long road and being able to say that I’m the first student this year is so much excitement.”